Month: September 2015

Forbidden Waters Include Blue Whale Areas Near San Diego

ByVirginia Morell / Science / September 16, 2015

The U.S. Navy agreed this week to limit its use of sonar and other activities that unintentionally harm cetaceans and other marine mammals.

A federal court on 14 September approved the settlement of two cases brought by environmental groups that challenged the Navy’s training and testing activities off the coasts of southern California and Hawaii.

Have you ever wondered if native peoples – the Kumeyaay – ever lived at what is now Ocean Beach? If they did, what were their lives like? What did they eat?

All you answers will be given at the OB Historical Society’s presentation this Thursday night, September 17th, with Professor Richard Carrico, an expert on the lifestyles and history of the native peoples in San Diego County.

Carrico will be presenting “Kumeyaay on the Coast – Overlooked Aspects of Native Fishing and Maritime” at the Point Loma United Methodist Church at 1984 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at 7 pm. The program is free to the public.

By Los Lane

The meeting was called to order by the President, Ann Swanson. Two important items were on the Agenda: Sunset Cliffs Native Plant Demonstration Garden and Water Quality Management.

There was considerable discussion and some dissension over the Demonstration Garden. This garden is being implemented by the California Native Plant Society and was granted a right-of-entry permit to the northern portion of the linear park for the purpose of planting native plants.

There is some concern that this project is not turning out the way it was originally envisioned, which was reflected by the vote that followed the discussion.

There’s a lot going on this Saturday, September 19th – there’s the OB Town Council OB Pier Pancake Breakfast, there’s…

Locals were predicting it. And it finally happened.

The recent rains flooded the underground garage at the new condo complex at Abbott and Saratoga. Most of the world knows about it because a brand new Lamborghini was submerged in the rainwater – along with 7 other cars in the same garage.

Estimated repair costs are around $600,000.

The flooding occurred at the so-called “million-dollar” condos – a brand new development that has a controversial history.

The OB Planning Board is hosting a special Board meeting on Wednesday, September 16th.

The main agenda item out of only 2 before the Board is developing a policy regarding “deviations” to the Land Development Code for Sustainable Buildings Sustainable Building Policy 900-14.

In other words, under what circumstances would the Board consider a deviation to OB’s famous floor-area-ratio (FAR).

By Frank Gormlie

With Cuba and Cubans back in the news cycle – not only with the release of 3,522 prisoners from Cuban jails before the pope’s visit, but also with the first meeting of something called the Bilateral Commission last Friday, September 11th, I have an opening to comment on something that happened last month.

The Bilateral Commission was created August 14 during a visit to Havana by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as he presided over the official reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, and the raising of the American flag for the first time since 1961.

While Other Countries Ban GMOs, US Congress Endorses Them

By John Lawrence

Scotland has banned genetically modified organisms (GMOs) within its country.

“Scotland is known around the world for our beautiful natural environment—and banning growing genetically modified crops will protect and further enhance our clean, green status,” said rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead. Here in the US the fight is just for the right to know that a food product should be labeled as GMO, and that’s not going so well.

Some initial reports by locals are saying that drivers are ignoring the new stop signs and cross-walks just installed at Abbott and Santa Monica Avenue.

If they are, then let this be reminder that the cautionary measures taken at this intersection were requested by the Lifeguards, as they have had problems exiting the lifeguard parking lot during emergencies.

What Does Go On at the Beach Park? A Report of the OB CDC September 10 Meeting

By Lois Lane

Comments From City Returned for Veterans Plaza

The first round of comments has been returned from the City for the Veterans Plaza. Plans are in the works for Estrada Land Planning to make a sort of outline on-site model …

No Contract Yet for Children’s Area – Adult Exercise

Meanwhile, the children’s area and the adult exercise area were a hot topic of discussion, as no contract has yet been let for the design …

A power outage hit parts of OB, the Midway District and other areas close by, Monday morning, September 14. 2…

By Jim Miller

Recently the New York Times did a thorough exposé of life inside Amazon’s “bruising workplace” where the managers celebrate what they call “Purposeful Darwinism.”

The focus of the piece was not on the poor folks turning around the goods in the warehouses but on the presumably more privileged white-collar workers who are encouraged to regularly challenge and report on one another when they are not busy answering texts at 3:00 AM or pushing themselves to work 80 hours a week.